What is that strange fountain?
Millennium Fountain (above left) by Richard Rome. What it replaced (above right).
In October 1999, a competition was launched by the Friends of Cannizaro Park to commission an artist who would fabricate and install a new water feature to replace the old fountain near the main gates. The commission was worth £50,000.
The project brief was drawn up to encourage artists from as wide a range of backgrounds as possible to take part. The selectors did not want to constrain either the vision or the scope of the entrants, and the selection criteria stressed safety, durability and suitability rather than style. Artists were asked to respond creatively to the importance of the fountain’s location – seen by 100,000 visitors a year – and to submit ideas that would encourage people to explore the gardens.
The water feature was intended to please visitors and fascinate children in particular as the new century approached. The Friends wanted it to be both unique to Cannizaro and more expressive of the park than the existing fountain, a standard design around ten years old and subject to technical problems and vandalism. The new artwork had to be insurable against public liability, easy to care for, and have a lifespan of at least 30 years.
The commission was awarded by the Constance Fund whose exclusive remit was funding new sculpture for public parks. The Fund was already associated with prominently-sited water features in Hyde Park, Regent’s Park and elsewhere. The project was administered jointly by the Friends of Cannizaro Park, the Royal Society of British Sculptors and Merton Council.
A shortlist of three proposals was chosen from among 60 applications. More than 280 requests for the original brief had been received from throughout the UK. Each of the three received £1000 to develop their idea for the second stage of the competition, a public exhibition at Wimbledon Library in March 2000.
The winner, Richard Rome, was announced after the exhibition closed. Long familiar with Cannizaro, he taught sculpture at Wimbledon School of Art, bronze casting at the Royal College of Art, and had exhibited large public works both in Britain and overseas.
Eventually on 27 January 2001, the Millennium Fountain was formally inaugurated by Sir Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art and a former local resident of Copse Hill. More than 100 Friends and guests attended the ceremony in brilliant winter sunshine as Mayor Ian Munn took possession on behalf of Merton Council.
The fountain could be seen either as a giant classical style urn or as a multi-spouted teapot reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. Richard Rome wrote: “The fountain is a focal point, a place to pause between park and Common. It is therefore very important that the sculpture should appeal to children for whom moving water always has a magical appeal.”
Sir Christopher summed it up: “Here at least, all paths will lead to Rome.”
